Tape players, in general, include a fast-forwarding (FF) and rewinding (REW) mechanism to transport a tape at a high speed to skip over to a desired music program or to repeatedly listen to a music program.
FIGS. 1 and 2 show such a FF/REW mechanism. When the tape player is in the play mode as shown in FIG. 1, a tape 1 forcibly contacts with capstans 3 fixed on forward and reverse flywheels 2 due to pressure of pinch rollers 4 and with a head 5 displaced to its fully advanced position. Forward and reverse drive reel bases 6 are aligned parallely with the flywheels 2 and a play mode idler gear 7 is interposed between the reel bases 6 to transmit a motor power to a selected one of the reel bases 6. The selective engagement of the play mode idler gear 7 with the reel bases 6 is effected by rotating an idler gear plate 8 carrying the play mode idler gear 7 thereon. A fast-forwarding and rewinding mode idler gear 9 is interposed between the two flywheels 2 to transmit the flywheel (motor) rotation to the reel bases 6. In this play mode, however, the fast-forwarding and rewinding idler gear 9 is kept at a neutral (decoupled) position by a changeover lever 10.
To create the fast-forwarding or rewinding mode, a corresponding operation lever not shown is pushed by hand to rotate the changeover lever 10 to the forward mode flywheel and reel base or to the reverse mode ones so that the fast-forwarding and rewinding mode idler gear 9 engages a selected couple of the flywheel 2 and the reel base 6. Concurrently, due to the advancing force of the operating lever, motor power and spring force stored thereby, a control plate such as head plate, pinch roller plate or other plate retires to a position wherein the head 5 slightly contacts the tape and the pinch rollers 4 are away from the capstans 3, and the idler plate 8 is in its neutral position, in response to the withdrawal of the control plate, so that the play mode idler gear 7 disengages from the reel base 6.
The prior art mechanism, however, often produces a time lag between the detachment of the play mode idler gear 7 from the reel base 6 and the engagement of the fast-forwarding and rewinding mode idler gear 9 with the flywheel 2. The time lag is caused by the following reason.
The connection of the fast-forwarding and rewinding mode idler gear 9 to the flywheel 2 is immediately effected by the displacement of the changeover lever 10 which is concurrent with insertion of a manually operated fast-forwarding or rewinding operation lever. However, the detachment of the play mode idler gear 7 from the reel base is not effected immediately. For example, if the tape player is designed to keep the control plate at a position by an energized plunger against a spring force and to detach the play mode idler gear 7 from the reel base 6 by withdrawing a plunger plate upon deenergization of the plunger in response to insertion of the operating lever, the detachment is not effected before a deenergization switch is actually operated. If the tape player is designed to detach the idler gear 7 by withdrawing the control plate with the motor power transmitted thereto in response to insertion of the operating lever, the detachment is not effected before the motor power is actually transmitted to the control plate.
Because of the reasons, it sometimes occurrs that both the play mode idler gear 7 and the fast-forwarding and rewinding mode idler gear 9 concurrently engage the reel base 6, thereby causing a lock or damages of the idler gears and applying an excessive load to the motor.
Further, a new type of tape player is designed to save the operating power to create the fast-forwarding or rewinding mode, by using the motor power to shift the head to or away from the tape and to shift the pinch rollers to or away from the capstans.
In this type of tape player, it takes a time from cancellation of the fast-forwarding or rewinding mode to actual engagement of the play mode idler gear with the reel base. Therefore, the reel base overruns due to the inertia given by the former high revolution and causes that a soundless zone of the tape detected by a music selecting operation passes far over the head and that the beginning of a desired music is skipped over.
To prevent this phenomenum, it is proposed to provide the reel bases with braking means so that even when the tape uses a motor power to shift the pinch rollers, the reel bases are immediately stopped upon cancellation of the fast-forwarding or rewinding mode and commence the low revolution for the play mode.
As such braking means, there are conventionally proposed the following formats:
(1) braking members which normally maintain their non-braking state are biased to braking positions at the beginning of the cancelling operation of the fast-forwarding or rewinding operation lever and return to the normal non-braking positions when the cancelling operation of the lever is completed;
(2) braking members which normally maintain the non-braking state are biased to braking positions by movement of the high revolution idler gear or of a changeover lever therefor at the beginning of the movement of the high revolution idler gear away from the reel base, and return to the normal non-braking positions when the low revolution idler gear engages the reel base; and
(3) upon the replacement from the state of (2) above to the normal play mode, the braking members move toward the non-braking positions while the low revolution idler gear still moves to the reel base and just before they engage, and stay at the normal non-braking positions when the play is started.
With the braking mechanism, however, wherein the braking operation is controlled by a single member such as the fast-forwarding or rewinding operation lever, idler gear, or others, the time when the braking mechanism actually operates is not constant due to the positions and the operating time lags of the control members, thereby leading to a phenomenum that the braking members which should maintain the non-braking state unexpectedly brake the reel bases when the tape play is started.
Further, the braking mechanism is not regulated by any control member during the play mode. So, particularly when the player is assembled in a car, a force similar to the lever cancelling operation is sometimes applied to the braking mechanism upon a sudden and strong impact to the car, thereby unexpectedly actuating the braking members to stop the reel bases during the play mode.
If the tape player is designed to use the motor power to shift various members, it takes a time to return to the normal play mode after starting the cancelling operation of the fast-forwarding or rewinding operation lever, and the reel bases are left free during the time (after the braking members brake the reel bases at the beginning of the cancelling operation of the fast-forwarding or rewinding operation lever and thereafter return to the non-braking positions and before the low revolution idler gear engages the reel base), thereby causing looseness or damage of the tape.